What starters or key players do you want to remain a Panther in 2014? Odds are we have a new HC, praying for Gruden. Gruden will do wonders for Cam.
Odds are a new HC blows this roster up. But what key players do we need to hold on to.

Defense
DE Johnson
DE Hardy
NT Louteleli
DT Short
LB Kuechly
LB Davis
CB Munnerlyn (strictly playing in the nickel, no right starting at CB)
The rest of the secondary: up in the air, depends who plays well for the rest of the season. Young talent, who makes a name for themselves.

Other key players either drafted or added in FA. I'd love to get Jarius Byrd, he may be the best FS in football, we need an elite player in the secondary to go with our elite front 7. I say trade a 3rd for Byrd, sign and trade that is. Draft a stud #1 CB or WR. Sign or somehow get a good LT. Everyone on the right side of our OL needs to go. Maybe slide Bell into RG. But he is no RT.

I'd like to keep Tolbert and DeAngelo as well, maybe on a restructured deal however.

Everything else looks good. I would like Byrd, but as mentioned in the Byrd thread he may be asking for too much money. We can't justify putting more money in an already successful defense when we have so many holes on offense. Lester could be emerging and I'd like to see how he plays the rest of the year.

The offseason needs to be 100% dedicated to OL and WR. Smitty is on the decline and cannot be our #1 anymore. I say we get a #1 WR in free agency and hit the OL hard in the draft. We can use later picks on the secondary and LB depth._________________

This is probably a pipe dream, but Atlanta is going nuts right now. Let's say hypothetically they win 1, maybe 2 more games, and their coach is fired. Do we try to get Mike Smith? 5 winning seasons out of 6 is the exact opposite of the past half decade for us, and I think he with the help of a good coaching staff can get more production out of this offense._________________

This is probably a pipe dream, but Atlanta is going nuts right now. Let's say hypothetically they win 1, maybe 2 more games, and their coach is fired. Do we try to get Mike Smith? 5 winning seasons out of 6 is the exact opposite of the past half decade for us, and I think he with the help of a good coaching staff can get more production out of this offense.

I honestly don't see them firing Smith, leading them to the playoffs three straight years, last year NFC Championship. Not gonna happen, say he does win a couple more games this year, then next year he will be on the semi hot seat._________________Carolina Panthers GamecocksForever To Thee

The Falcons will retool before they completely cut Smith unless he's completely lost the locker room, which I don't think he has. He's been a good coach for them and has built a winner, every coach has a bad season due to injuries or just turn over in players. Even if they got 5 wins this year, Smith will stick around for a while longer; Arthur Blank is a very loyal owner._________________

The only way to fix Cam is to bring in someone with fire that loves Cam and wants to come here because of Cam. That coach is Gruden, I honestly believe the is the answer to all of our problems.

This guy has become so a better coach in his time removed from the game. Watching MNF he calls every single play before the ball his hiked. Watching him critique Geno last night was something Rivera probably never does for Cam. This guy can fix all the small problems Cam has. Its a pretty simple formula._________________

[quote="ericr0319"]The only way to fix Cam is to bring in someone with fire that loves Cam and wants to come here because of Cam. That coach is Gruden, I honestly believe the is the answer to all of our problems.

This guy has become so a better coach in his time removed from the game. Watching MNF he calls every single play before the ball his hiked. Watching him critique Geno last night was something Rivera probably never does for Cam. This guy can fix all the small problems Cam has. Its a pretty simple formula.[/quote]

I completely agree. Gruden has become a better coach with his time away from the game. We could use a little offensive guru to turn this team around.

No way it happens but I would bring in Gruden now to replace Shula. Gruden would not take the job but it would be great to have a guy calling plays that thinks of the players before thinking of the scheme.

The only way to fix Cam is to bring in someone with fire that loves Cam and wants to come here because of Cam. That coach is Gruden, I honestly believe the is the answer to all of our problems.

This guy has become so a better coach in his time removed from the game. Watching MNF he calls every single play before the ball his hiked. Watching him critique Geno last night was something Rivera probably never does for Cam. This guy can fix all the small problems Cam has. Its a pretty simple formula.

A coach who's famously hard on his quarterbacks, running an intricate west coast offense that doesn't fit Cam's strengths?_________________

The only way to fix Cam is to bring in someone with fire that loves Cam and wants to come here because of Cam. That coach is Gruden, I honestly believe the is the answer to all of our problems.

This guy has become so a better coach in his time removed from the game. Watching MNF he calls every single play before the ball his hiked. Watching him critique Geno last night was something Rivera probably never does for Cam. This guy can fix all the small problems Cam has. Its a pretty simple formula.

A coach who's famously hard on his quarterbacks, running an intricate west coast offense that doesn't fit Cam's strengths?

If you have read any comments on Gruden since his years removed he has said that he would not run the same west coast offensive.

And to comment on the guy above, no chance in hell Gruden wants to be an offensive coordinator. lol_________________

Gruden might be an option, Cam has the talent, just needs help getting over the hump.

I'm not convinced that Cam is a quick fix. Since his rookie season, if anything, he has regressed. But why? I think the problem is twofold.

1. His rookie season had just as much to do with defenses being a mess as it did with Cam's talent. He was playing backyard ball and early in the season amidst all the disarray that just worked. It was the perfect style for the time and he flourished because of it.

2. Cam doesn't seem to have much in the way of retention. It's like you can watch the games and see what he's learned in practice...for about two quarters. Then he reverts to what he was at Auburn. I honestly don't understand how, in three years, Newton has not learned how to effectively read a defense. I don't understand how he can't consistently throw timing routes, how he can't look off a safety, and most of all why on earth he's still staring down receivers.

In my opinion, the truth is painful. When we hire a new coach, Cam is still a rookie. I honestly believe he needs 2-4 more years of intensive, exhaustive coaching, and honestly he may need to be on the bench for some of it so he can't fall back into his terrible habits. Cam is the worst kind of player to have; One who shows all the potential in the world....half the time._________________

goldfishwars wrote:

I put a list of twenty prospects on each poll and by pick three guys are saying stuff like 'WHY ISN'T CREMEDY TOOTSHOES THE LONG SNAPPER FROM WESTERN KENTUCKY ON THIS POLL?'

If we hire Gruden, we'd need to make sure to still have a very, very strong presence at DC just to make sure that side of the ball doesn't get lost in the shuffle. He walked into a situation with one of the best defenses of all-time in Tampa, but by the time he was gone he'd hardly done anything to replace players lost and players who'd left their prime. I wouldn't want to see a similar fate in Carolina.

Gruden might be an option, Cam has the talent, just needs help getting over the hump.

I'm not convinced that Cam is a quick fix. Since his rookie season, if anything, he has regressed. But why? I think the problem is twofold.

1. His rookie season had just as much to do with defenses being a mess as it did with Cam's talent. He was playing backyard ball and early in the season amidst all the disarray that just worked. It was the perfect style for the time and he flourished because of it.

2. Cam doesn't seem to have much in the way of retention. It's like you can watch the games and see what he's learned in practice...for about two quarters. Then he reverts to what he was at Auburn. I honestly don't understand how, in three years, Newton has not learned how to effectively read a defense. I don't understand how he can't consistently throw timing routes, how he can't look off a safety, and most of all why on earth he's still staring down receivers.

In my opinion, the truth is painful. When we hire a new coach, Cam is still a rookie. I honestly believe he needs 2-4 more years of intensive, exhaustive coaching, and honestly he may need to be on the bench for some of it so he can't fall back into his terrible habits. Cam is the worst kind of player to have; One who shows all the potential in the world....half the time.

I don't think Cam is a quick fix either; I really don't see us putting a new OC over an offseason and viola, new Cam. I think it will take a season of tutelage under an offensive minded coach to get Cam thinking the right way direction, then an off season of complete preparation based on how he performed the year before. Everything you you mention is mental aspects of the game, those can be corrected with film and preparation. We just need to find the coach to get inside Cam's brain and understand what he's thinking. If we can get Cam over this mental hurdle, we are looking at a perennial top 10 QB not a middle of the pack guy due to inconsistencies ranging from All Pro QB one week to almost out of the league QB the next.

Rivera is not an offensive guy and probably knows nothing about running an effective offense and his choice of coordinators is poor. I think if we had gotten Hue Jackson, it's a different story in Carolina this year. I understand the deal with continuity with Shula, but Shula would have been just fine serving as the QB coach while Jackson was the OC._________________